Illini Weekly: Men’s tennis making strides in fall tournaments

Writer’s note: Every Monday, GateHouse Media’s Illini Correspondent takes a step back from Illini football and basketball to take a closer look at other, deserving University of Illinois athletic programs and individuals.

The Illinois men’s tennis team won’t start playing head-to-head matchups with other teams until 2016, but several Illini players have already put in quality work toward raising their individual statuses.

On Sunday afternoon, redshirt junior Julian Childers grabbed the A Singles title at the 2015 Crusaders Invitational hosted by Valparaiso, his first title of his collegiate career.

Childers, who redshirted last season, won in two sets in each of his four matches and conceded two or fewer points in every set but one, the outlier being his first of the tournament against Toledo’s Omar Espinosa, which he won 6-3.

In the championship match, Childers cruised to a 6-2 victory in the first set before punctuating it with a 6-0 shutout set to down Toledo’s Luka Vitosevic.

Another Illini, redshirt freshman Pablo Landa, also made some noise in the B Singles draws, falling in three sets (3-6, 6-4, 10-7) to Western Michigan’s Mate Svijetlicic in the championship match.

About a week earlier, sophomore Aron Hiltzik also fought to the Round of 16 of the Singles Main drew in the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships before falling in two sets No. 22 Andre Goransson of California.

While it is uncertain how the three performances will impact Illinois in regards to the ITA preseason team national rankings, which won’t be released until Jan. 5, the benefits aren’t necessarily hard to see outside of the statistics.

More success for Hiltzik only affirms his role as one of three major singles contributors on the team, which also includes senior Jared Hiltzik, Aron’s older brother, and sophomore Aleks Vukic. All three ranked among the top-50 singles players in the preseason national rankings as of Sept. 15 with Aron Hiltzik (No. 46) ranking the lowest of the Illini trio.

Hiltzik, however, is expected to leap in those rankings after besting Virginia Tech’s Amerigo Contini (No. 43) and Duke’s Nicholas Alvarez (No. 7) in the All-American Championships. But more important than raising his prestige, Hiltzik has now seen — and hung with — some top-level competition, only improving his outlook for the spring.

Meanwhile, Childers and Landa both got in some quality court time after taking redshirts last season, adding needed experience to a 10-man roster with just two members that have played with the Illini for two or more full seasons.